I am the rakshasa Ghatotkacha, born of the Lord Bhimasena and the Lady Hidimba. I rule over hill and vale, wood and stream, protecting the spirit of the forest and all who live in it.
Blurb on the back cover of the book, Lost in Time: Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions.
History has always attracted me, more so if it happens to be mythological, as in the Mahabharata. I’m always on the lookout for credible authors on the subject. So, when Lost in Time: Ghatotkacha and the Game of Illusions, a mythological fiction by Namita Gokhale reached me, I just grabbed it.
It is a fascinating book on time-travel that talks about an intense friendship between a teenager of 21st century and mythological hero Ghatotkaha. And it is also a take on the abiding puzzles of the past.
I never had any doubt about the book’s factual information, written as it is by Namita Gokhale, but I wondered how Ghatotkacha, one of the heroes of the great war of Mahabharata in Dwapara Yug, could be connected to today’s life and times. How the story could be made relevant to the times we are living in? But the author has done so, and splendidly at that.
It is the coming of age story of a young boy who, in a span of couple of months, learns what life is all about. From a fearful young boy, who lacks trust in himself and is always worried, he turns into a confident teenager who realises the importance of “living in the now” and the trust one must have in one’s innate strengths. It is the inner courage that does all the magic, the book says.
The protagonist is a 13-year-old Gurgaon boy, Chintamani Dev Gupta, who gets transported to the days of the Mahabharata while on a camping holiday near Sat Tal. Trapped in time, he meets Ghatotkacha and his mother, demoness Devi Hidimba, wife of Bhima, one of the Pandavas. Giant Ghatotkach develops friendly love for Chintamani, and in the process teaches him what life is all about. The wisdom in his words is as true in today’s time as it was then. Some things are eternal, indeed.
Sample this:
“Every game has an element of danger”, says Ghatotkacha,” the real challenge is in keeping it a sport.”;
That’s the thing about love Chintu Pintu when it finds you, everything else stops to matter,” says Hidimbi Ma to Chintamani;
Truly, life is a game. Winning and losing are nothing but illusions, for we are playthings of gods, however strong we think we may be.
In the enlightening company of Ghatotkacha, Chintamani finds himself in the thick of the events of the most enduring Indian epic. He attends Abhimanyu-Vatsala marriage, flies in Pushpaka Vimana, explores jungles and roams around ancient Dwarka, a meticulously planned city with huge domes and spires embellished with silver and with shinning crystal cones and squares.
Through lucid and easy English, the author has explained age-old secrets of the forest and the elemental forces for the book’s young readers. To keep the interest and wonderment of children alive, the author writes about magic, teleporting, prescience and mind-boggling Rakshasa technology that keep you in awe and thrall. Like how demons change their shape and size, how they assume different forms, turn human, fly high up in the air, communicate telepathically, without uttering a single word or hear far-off sounds just by concentrating .
The book touches, albeit delicately, the effect parents’ separation has on children. Chitamani’s parents are on the verge of divorce, which bothers him no end. In one of the chapters, when Ghatokacha talks of sending Chintamani back to his own world, he doesn’t want to because he can’t bear to see his parents separating. Something magical happens while he is time-travelling, and when he is back he sees his parents together, no more talking of separation, which makes him profoundly happy. In a small way, the book also talks about the eternal continuity of life when Ghatokacha says, “Humans live, humans die, but the great and evolved rishis and the race f immortals are different”. And, it talks about the importance of maintaining ecological balance, understanding the needs of all living beings, and respecting nature and mother earth.
The book is for 11-14 year olds, but I’m sure even their mothers will love reading it.
